I've seen this approach before. IMO it's not safe for the operator or the saw.

Can you please point out the unsafe portions of this video?From what I saw, he locked the support onto the saw in the mitre slots, locked the pivot into place, and slowly rotated the workpiece down until it was cut round. When he was ready to cut the inside, he had the form properly locked into position again, and raised the saw into the workpiece slowly removing wood from the inside until he was done. I didn't see any unsafe practices going on. It's just like making crown moulding or even making raised panels on a saw. It looks unsafe, feels unsafe, but with the proper jigs and supports, it's not unsafe....... Jerry (in Tucson)

Let me start off by saying that everyone has their own comfort level when it come to using power tools.IMOFirst of all, you should never feed any type of stock through the blade in any other direction other than straight on. When using a TS, you angle the stock, not the direction you feed it. This is not what the saw or blade were designed to do.I could open a can of paint with a chisel, but I don't, their is a proper (less dangerous) tool for that.Jerry Marcantel wrote on Oct 12th, 2014 at 3:01pm:

I didn't see any unsafe practices going on. It's just like making crown moulding or even making raised panels on a saw. It looks unsafe, feels unsafe, but with the proper jigs and supports, it's not unsafe....... Jerry (in Tucson)

Yes, this is similar and just as ridiculous to cutting coves on a TS. I know this has become quite popular in the last few years but it's still an incorrect use of the tool. I don't know who first started using the TS as a large spinning rasp but IMO it has done nothing but spawned poor tool use and bad practicesThe practice of introducing or pushing stock at an angle to the blade is not the safe or proper way to use a the tool. As far as the video, it's hard to take some seriously someone who tosses saw blades around like this guy.I use a cove bit in my router table to cut coves, I use a lathe to make bowls.I know, crazy huh

I for one, don't know how safe it is and I personally, would not use it. I think (like Ed stated) that everyone has a comfort level with power tools. My wife, for instance, thinks I'm completely nuts for turning on a lathe. She thinks the lathe is extremely dangerous (probably because she has heard the plethora of bowls flinging themselves across my shop after a catch). With that said, this blew me away with the sure creativity and the out of the box approach that he took is solving the problem of making a bowl. Check out some of his other videos, he has some really cool ways of using the table saw to cut patterns into the side of the bowl.

I can see how a good discussion could be had around the safety aspects of this, and whether cutting coves on a table saw is a good idea or not.

I just don't see what is appropriate or funny about suggesting that Izzy Swan, the guy with the jig, is some kind of white trash. However, since the global moderator figures that the post suggesting that was funny, I guess that I'm the odd man out here.

just don't see what is appropriate or funny about suggesting that Izzy Swan, the guy with the jig, is some kind of white trash. However, since the global moderator figures that the post suggesting that was funny, I guess that I'm the odd man out here.

I was only making a joke based on what I saw in the video, one moment in time. In that moment I thought he filled a stereotype. I'm not judging the poster's entire life. The lack of safety and respect toward the tools is what I based it on, and in that moment I still think it's a very hap-hazard procedure that I would never perform.

This is one of those situations where it makes a difference where the reference point is at.

When I was working in Safety -- if I was allowing such a work practice when the State/Federal Inspector came through the shop, I would be facing a citation and being ready to pay a pretty good fine.

As a private citizen, working on my own, I have the freedom to do a lot of things that would not be acceptable in a commercial/industrial business setting.

This is one of those situations ---

Then there are two approaches to the analysis. One can break it down and look at the pieces of the operation --- Or one can identify a lower risk standard practice that achieves the outcome. This one will easily fall into the second one, and safety professionals will not spend the time on a detailed examination except in reconstruction of events after a serious injury or death event has occurred.

It looks pretty in safe to me, everything seems to be clamped in tightly. I guess it boils down to comfort level. I like the thinking that went behind this and that he produced a bowl in a very different way.!!! Like those that have not used a lathe before find it scary until they have used it and achieved some sort of comfort level with sticking sharp steel into spinning wood. For me a shaper or router is something I do not have a working comfort level with, only because I do not used these tools on a regular basis. JMHO, I like this guys thinkingJames

It looks pretty in safe to me, everything seems to be clamped in tightly.

This is not why I think it's an un-safe procedure.A TS blade is not designed to be struck repeatedly from one side while spinning. If you know how the carbide teeth are attached, you would understand.A hand drill is not designed to have a 6"-8" bowl blank spinning on it The bearings, armature and housing are not made for this type of stress

These are just a couple of things I can think of as to why this is dangerous.Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

You know...now that I think of it... why couldn't you put the drill in a bench vise, turn it on and then just use a heavy rasping file to make bowls. Seems like it should work, right? What could possibly go wrong?